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So Kemi was talking about movies, which gave me an idea. This is a list about movies that I love and my thoughts about the remakes or sequels.

The Parent Trap. I love the version with Haley Mills. I refuse to watch the remake. Not because of Lindsey Lohan, but I don’t the to watch something that’s not the original. The only way that I will watch the remake is if I’m on a coach bus or a plane and that’s what’s playing.

The Poseidon Adventure. I do love the cheesy old version and again, I have no desire to watch the remake.

The Blues Brothers. I LOVEThe Blues Brothers and I have no desire to watch the sequel. Call me stodgy, but I won’t.

Grease. Okay, I will admit, I have watched Grease 2 and I sort of liked it. Not as much as the original. If you did like the Grease 2 over Grease, let me know.

Those are the movies that came to mind off the top of my head and I’m sure there are more. Your thoughts?

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16 Responses

I feel the way you do about remakes. I can live with sequels. I know a lot of people who liked Grease 2 better than Grease. Why is beyond me. I didn’t like Grease 2.

My favorite movie when I was 5 years old was Annie–the original movie starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Tim Curry, Bernadette Peters, and Anne Reinking. They have remade it a few times since. I won’t watch the remakes. Why not bring back the original? It had an all-star cast and is a classic in my book. Keep the remakes happening on the Broadway stage!

That’s my movie rant for now. 😉 If I think of any more I’ll report back! 😀

YES!! ANNIE!! LOVE IT!!! I think I watched one of the remakes, but I hated it. ~Accountable

We have all the prequels on video and I haven’t seen Episode 3 yet. I think that is the one that ties them all together.

However, I do think that some remakes work better for me. La Femme Nikita just didn’t do it for me the way Point of No Return did. Part of this, I have to admit, is because L.F.N. was filmed in a darker way (and I do mean lighting, not mood) that I always find more difficult to follow. Maybe that’s their intent, but I end up exhausted from eye strain, and the mood that creates for me is annoyance!

What about movies that do a modern version of shakespeare and others? I loved Hamlet with Ethan Hawke for example, and Great Expectations with Gwynnith Paltrow (however you spell her name!) even though I didn’t expect to like either of them. Romeo and Juliet didn’t work as well for me modernized.

I did watch Romeo + Juliet with Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio. I was actually able to follow along with the book that I had. It was a different take on it. I thought it was pretty good. ~Accountable

Accountable, you have kids, so I’m curious… did you watch Toy Story 2? I know it’s a cartoon, so it’s a little different. I normally hate Disney sequels, especially when they’re direct-to-video, but that one was *almost* as good as the first. If I remember correctly, I think TS2 was released in the theater. Maybe that’s the key?

We have not watched Toy Story 2. For that matter, I have only seen The Land Before Time and none of the countless Direct to video sequels

Father of the Bride? Father of the Bride 2? The sequel wasn’t as magical as the first one, but man, I could sure relate to those pregnancy jokes. Also, I preferred the Steve Martin version to the original Liz Taylor.

I think you’re on to something here. So many times, when a movie is remade, it loses a lot of its original charm. It takes a really great cast and director to surpass the original. And sequels almost never do.

What about Cheaper by the Dozen? I haven’t seen either of those yet. ~Accountable

If you will allow a real oldie, I will add “State Fair” to the list. The original musical (there is an even older non-musical with Will Rogers that is good) is wonderful, but it was remade with Pat Boone and Ann Margaret and I cannot stand it.

I do agree that the original Parent Trap is much the best. As for sequels I have to mention the Indiana Jones series. I liked number 1, squirmed during number 2, and totally LOVE number 3. Now I’m waiting for number 4 to be released.

Ohhh… The Indiana Jones movies are all good! Although I think triolgy/series movies (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Harry Potter) fall into a whole different category. ~Accountable

What about Little Shop of Horrors? The 1986 version we know best was a remake.

I *LOVE* The DeCaprio/Danes version of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It’s an absolute masterpiece. Baz Luhrman didn’t change the book’s text at all, yet he set the story in a fictional version of the 1970’s or 80’s…and due to props and good acting it all completely makes sense as it comes out of their mouths. It’s brilliant!

I didn’t realize that Little Shop of Horrors was a remake. I guess it all depends on what *we* consider an original vs. a remake. ~Accountable

I was going to list The Matrix and Deb beat me to it! 🙂 I loved the first movie so much I didn’t watch the sequels. From the previews they didn’t look like they had much substance to them–just action movies. I generally avoid sequels if I liked the first movie. There are some exceptions where the sequels are just as good as the first (think Lethal Weapon and Die Hard).

Any of the Saw sequels. Haven’t been able to watch them. The acting in the first one was so terrible I can’t get around that.

The original Little shop of horrors starred Jack Nicholson.

Loved the Matrix, hated the sequels.

Indiana Jones series is probably the best thing George Lucas ever did. And I’ll stand behind that statement forever. 😉

I’m not a big fan of Disney (I just hate how all their movies are the same formula), but I refuse to watch anything produced by them that went directly to video. If their marketing department didn’t think the film was good enough to release to theaters, I’m not going to get tricked into paying money to watch it.

Land Before Time series is produced by the devil! Alex loved those movies, I couldn’t stand them. The movies themselves were harmless, but the off-key singing was.. UGH. *shudder*

Of all the Star Wars prequels, I like Episode 3 the best. They could have easily just made that one without the other two.

I love Indiana Jones! I was always afraid of the original. I was pretty young when it came out and the part when the faces melt off was too graphic for me. I liked Temple of Doom. Thought it was funny. I loved the third one as well. I look forward to the new one.

The Little Shop of Horrors (1986) is great! I saw the original–non-musical, b&w version. It’s alright, but I saw the new one first. Besides, I’m totally into musicals.

Let’s talk about The Godfather trilogy. I LOVE The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. Can’t stand the third one. It just isn’t the same.

Disney sequels: no desire to see them. They weren’t meant to have sequels IMO.

When I heard that Revenge of the Nerds was going to be remade, I cringed. I was very happy to hear that the project was cancelled. Thus, preserving the greatness of the original without tarnish.

There is also a remake of The Women on the horizon. There is NO WAY a movie made today can possible capture the greatness that the Women was. The original, from 1939, was pioneering in that there were no male roles. None. How is today’s version going to be pioneering???

I couldn’t stand the new Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It was creepy and I loved the original which seemed innocent and FUN and much more about a man’s need to have someone honest run his company.

I thought if they would have re-made Willie Wonka they could have chosen Jim Carey as I think he would have been a better fit.

I have only seen one of the Pirates of the Carribean movies as I am not into pirates.

Let’s think of those great classics with sequel after sequel:

Nightmare on Elm Street part whatever
Friday the 13th part whatever
Jaws part 2, and 3 (I think)

Oh yes!.. And dont forget the countless Halloween Movies too. I also do not wish to watch the remake of Willie Wonka. I love Gene Wilder. It’s funny that you mentioned Charlie and the Choclate facotry because just this morning as I was dropping Little Man off, some geese were flying overhead and he mentioned that. I started singing “Gooses. Geeses. I want a goose that lays gold eggs for Easter!”

Back to School? As in the one with Rodney Dangerfield? See, that is a movie that just shouldn’t be remade. Not that I think it’s an amazing classic, but how can you live up to Dangerfield???
See, this is where I have to get on my soap box. If you’re going to ruin a movie, ruin it with a sequel. Don’t make a mediocre remake that makes everyone forget the original.
Thought of another one! Sabrina! Like Julia Ormond holds a candle to Audrey Hepburn (my hero)! 😡